My Seductress
by AnnaLoli
Summary: She was beautiful, and sweet, and sexy, and everything Jem had ever wanted. But she couldn't be his, she belonged to someone else. The only time he can have with her is small bought moments. His Seductress. His Tessa. Jem is dragged to a brothel for his 17th birthday, where he meets Tessa and sparks fly. Modern AU. All human. JemxTessa. Slight WillxTessa. Slight SophiexGideon.


It was Jem Carstairs seventeenth birthday. The celebrations had been nice, nothing too extraordinary. His foster mother, Charlotte, hung colorful streamers and balloons with the help of her husband, Henry. The cook made his favorite meal and everyone sang 'Happy Birthday' to him as he blew out his candles. No one gave him presents as was expected since he told them that he wanted none, no one except Will that is as he gave him a pendant of jade in the shape of a fist. Will had been his best friend and brother since he was twelve and first came to live with Charlotte and Henry. He had other brothers too, Gabriel and Gideon, though they were much newer in the household, as well as two sisters: Jessamine and Will's biological sister, Cecily. They were all orphans that had come to live under Charlotte's care until permanent arrangements were found, but everyone knew that wasn't going to happen. But despite most of them not being related by law or blood they were still very much a family.

After dinner he walked through the halls of the huge mansion that was once a church that he was lucky enough to call a home. He was almost to his room when he felt someone grab his arms from behind and restrain him, suddenly aware he looked back quickly to see his shorter but much larger brother, Gideon. "What the—,"he started but a cloth covered his vision and he heard Will and Gabriel laughing nearby. "What are you guys doing?" he asked, slightly unpleasant as he was tired and ready for bed.

"Aw, come on, Jem. The night's just begun," he heard Will say. "It's time for you to celebrate."

"I did, remember? Just a few minutes ago, and now I'm done celebrating and would like to go to sleep," he said, exasperatedly.

"We thought you would feel that way, which is why we're giving you no choice." And before Jem had a chance to protest he was whisked away into the night.

* * *

"We're here, Gentlemen," said Will in a slightly excited tone. Jem was thankful. It felt like they had been walking for over half an hour as they had refused to take a car or remove the blindfold for "anticipation purposes" and Jem had no choice but to trust his brothers as they led him blindly down the streets of London and let him run into a pole more than once. As soon as Gideon released his hands, Jem removed the cloth covering his eyes and looked up at the building in front of him. It was big, not as big as his home, but big none the less. The many windows were tinted and the lighting on the outside was dark and intimate, there were no signs to be seen and Jem was unsure of where they had taken him. He was about to ask when they pushed him forward and up the stairs and entered the mysterious building.

As soon as he was in he wanted out and he was going to leave to until Will, somehow sensing his intentions, held up a hand and blocked his path. The lighting inside was dark and multicolored but light enough to see through. Music pumped though the speakers loud and booming. The room was large and filled with men sitting at tables and one bar, talking, drinking, and smoking. There were many different types of males: old, fat, tall, muscular, but there was thing that they had in common that anyone could tell off the bat from looking at their clothes; money.

"A bar?" Jem asked. A high-end bar at that. Not somewhere he would usually like to spend his time, but better than what he was expecting.

"Oh, no," replied Will. "That's just a front for the real business. Trust me; I come here all the time. The women are safe and hot."

Women? Jem looked around, but there was no stage or pole, nothing looked out of the ordinary. He stared on confusedly until he was dragged into a corner by the front of the room, where a woman stood behind a desk. Her blonde hair ran down her back and as the group walked up to her she laid her hands on the desk and leaned forward to intentionally show of her large breasts in the low cut dress she was wearing. "How may I help you?" her tone was low and seductive.

Will, after outright ogling what she put on display, said, "I want the best girl you have."

"All of our girls are top-rate."

"You know who I'm talking about, Amalia." Jem looked at Will in surprise. He knew this girl? Will must have felt him staring because he turned and smirked at him.

"How long?" said Amalia.

"All night," replied Will.

Amalia fixed him with a sexy pout before saying, "I'm jealous, Will. She gets an entire night with you?"

"Don't worry, Love," assured Will. "It's not for me, it's for my darling brother here," he said, gesturing towards Jem. The look she gave Jem had his face turning red. She giggled at his reaction and brought her hands to ring a small bell in front of her. Somehow another girl heard it over the blaring music and came running up. She wore the same tight and short dress her coworker wore, must have been uniform, and her dark hair bounced in tight curls. She was prettier than Amaila and looked normal, but up close Jem could tell one side of her face had much more makeup than the other.

"Sophie," said Amalia. "If you could take this young man up to see _her_," she said, while handing Sophie a key.

"If you could come with me, please," said Sophie, her voice sweeter and not overly sexy like her companion. Apparently Sophie knew who this "her" was and began to walk away but quickly stopped when she noticed Jem wasn't following and turned back around. Will pushed him forward and he followed after her.

He heard Will crudely call after them, "Looking good, Sophie!" She helped up her hand in an unexpected gesture and flipped him the bird. Will laughed.

Sophie lead him through the crowded tables of drunken men, some eyeing her and the rare few even brave enough to grope her. Jem stared on in disbelief as she shrugged off their hands and continued walking as if nothing happened. She brought him to the back of the room and opened a door and walked through, he followed. A long staircase stood ahead of him followed by another door. The walls and stairs were pitch black and the small space would be completely dark if it wasn't for the small neon blue lights edging each stair.

She walked up, her heels clicking on the vinyl flooring. He looked up to follow and found that from his spot below her he could see under her dress. He flushed and quickly looked down and continued up the stairs that way. They went through a hallway but she continued through another door and another stair case, they did this one more time until they were, at least Jem thought, on the top floor. She walked down the hall they had landed on, the hallway much like the staircase; except for the lights were hanging from the walls. There were doors placed evenly along the walls but Sophie paid no heed to them until they reached the end of the hall and were faced with one last door, this one larger than the others. Sophie used the key given to her by Amalia earlier and opened the door. She stepped back and gestured for him to go inside. He nervously stepped forward and she nodded. He walked into the room to find the black vinyl flooring to be replaced by plush white carpet. The room was bigger than even his own and large floor to ceiling window took up the entire left wall. The only furniture in the room a gigantic bed with black, silk sheets.

He had already had a feeling of where he was but now he knew for sure: a brothel. Why? Why would Will even think to being him here? He knew this was definitely not Jem's idea of fun. He turned to go back but realized Sophie was no longer there. He went to open the door and found it locked. He tried the knob a few more times, but it wouldn't budge. He hung his head and sighed in defeat.

"Is there a reason you're trying to leave?" asked a sweetly seductive voice from behind him. He turned to see a girl, no, a _woman_, standing in the illumination of the moonlight. Her brown hair fell down her back in waves and her pale skin practically glowed. She stepped forward and he noticed she was in nothing but a black, transparent baby doll dress that showed her curves and lacy underwear that hid underneath it. He flushed and looked away.

"I-I'm sorry," he stuttered. "I won't be needing your…um…services."

She continued to walk forward until she was standing right in front of him. She was tall, he noted, almost his height. She grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her. Her eyes a stunning grey that pierced through him. "Really?" she questioned, "then why are you here?" He was about to answer when she pushed him back against the door, put her lips to his neck, and sucked. His entire body froze and her heart sped up. She licked from the bottom of his neck to his chin and gave him small kisses along his jawline and bit his earlobe. He couldn't help it, he moaned. She giggled. "Are you sure you won't be needing my _services_," she whispered into his ear, sending a shiver down his body.

She kissed and sucked all down his neck, until she reached his collar and began to unbutton his shirt. She had his shirt completely unbuttoned in moments before pressing herself flush against him. Her scantily covered breast against his bare chest, her searing warmth grinding against his thigh. He threw his head back against the door, panting and his face red.

"You're so easy to turn on," she said. He blushed darker but her voice brought him back to reality. He pushed against her shoulders until she moved far away enough for him to breathe.

"I can't do this with you."

She looked at him in surprise. "Why not? We were doing just fine," she said, her tone teasing.

"This isn't something you do with just anyone. It's for people who love each other."

"And do you love someone?" she asked, tilting her head.

"N-no," he said, uncomfortable by answering such an intimate question.

"I don't see what the big deal is. It's not like it's your first ti—." At his embarrassed look away from her she stopped. "You're a virgin?" she asked incredulously.

"What's wrong with that?" he asked, ashamedly.

"Nothing, we just don't get many of those around here," she said, stepping closer to him again. "If it's your inexperience you're worried about. Don't fret, honey. I can show you the ropes." She wrapped her arms around his neck and began tilting her head as if she were going to kiss him. A part of him wanted to let her kiss him, to let her "show him the ropes" on the bed behind them, to let her cling to him as they became one. His thoughts made him feel guilty and the bigger, and more sensible part of his brain, put a hand up and stopped her lips from kissing his. His hand covered the bottom half of her face so all he could see was her expressive grey eyes staring at him frustratedly. "If you don't want to have sex, then what do you want?"

Her bluntness shocked him, but then again she did have him pinned up against a door. "It wasn't my idea. My friends dragged me here for my birthday," he said, buttoning his shirt back up.

"Well, happy birthday then," she said and grabbed his wrist, pulling him to the bed.

"I'm sorry, but I don't want to do anything with you," he said as politely as possible, trying to make her understand. "Why don't I just leave?" he asked, beginning to walk towards the door.

"You can't," she stated frankly as she sat on the bed.

"W-why?"

"As you know the doors locked. You don't have a key and I definitely don't have a key. Someone has to come open it when the times up," she said.

"Why for?"

"So I can't leave."

He was struck by her words and was curious to ask her what that meant but before he could say anything she was talking.

"So, we have the entire night to ourselves. What do you want to do?" she asked. "Besides sex," she added as an afterthought.

"Talking is good," he said.

She shrugged and patted the spot beside her on the mattress. He hesitated and she said, "It's hard to talk with you all the way over there." He came to sit on the bed but not directly beside her as she had asked. If she noticed she didn't say anything.

"I guess, I'll start," she said. "I've never had to do this with a client before. What's your name?"

"James, but everyone calls me Jem."

"Jem," she said. For some reason just hearing her voice say his name made him flush. "I like it."

"What's yours'?"

"Everyone hear calls me Lucie," she said, bringing her legs up to her chest, giving him a view of her creamy thighs, which he quickly looked away from.

"Is that your real name?" he asked, trying to forget that she was sitting beside him almost completely naked.

She giggled slightly before responding, "No."

"Will you tell me your real name?"

"No," she said again. "I'm not allowed to, safety precautions and all."

"Where did the name Lucie come from?" he asked, actually curious.

"You know Lucie Manette, from a Tale of Two Cities," she said as if it was obvious.

He recalled reading the book a few years ago for class, but had found the writing style and plotline boring and hard to understand. "Why that?"

"It's my favorite book. I love almost every book, especially the classics, but there's just something about it. But there's a lot that come in really close seconds like Little Women, and Pride and Prejudice…" she continued to rattle on names of books, some he heard of some he hadn't. The look on her face as if she was talking about something she loved greatly, he felt like it was the only real expression she's made all night. And looking at her then, he didn't find her sexy but…cute.

"You wouldn't expect a prostitute to be interested in something like books," he said pleasantly, trying to make her laugh, but her cute expression suddenly disappeared and left was the same fake smile from before. "I'm sorry," he apologizes, "I didn't mean it like that."

"It's okay," she replied. She shifted on the bed, bringing her legs back so she could turn to him, she leaned slightly forward as if she was waiting for him to say something and he was about to when he noticed her cleavage. Her posture had them almost popping out from her sweetheart neckline and they were quite…big. She followed his line of sight to see him staring at her chest and her mouth turned into a sly grin. When he noticed she caught him he reddened. "Are you sure you don't want to do anything?" she asks, teasingly.

"N-no," he replied, looking away. She giggled and grabbed the silk sheets, pulling them up and covering herself. He thanked God because wasn't sure if his restraint could hold any longer, he was a teenage boy after all, but that didn't last long as she threw the end of the blankets around his shoulder and snuggled up against him, her breast against his bicep. She turned her head and looked up at him there was almost no room in between them.

"How rude of me," she said. "Here I am talking all about myself when it's _you _I'm supposed to be making feel good." She began to rub from his knee to his mid-thigh slowly inching closer and closer to his member. He looked down at her to tell her to stop but the look on her face stopped him. Her eyes big and gray, were staring directly into his, her lips pink and plump. He wanted very badly to kiss her then, he wanted to give in and do what she'd been wanting, what he'd been wanting. As he leaned down to press his lips against hers she asked, "What do you like to do?"

Her question caught him off guard and he stopped his movement, her hand on his thigh stopped as well. The sexy expression he could of swore she just had was gone and she looked normal again. She'd been playing him, he realized. "Where you expecting something else?" she asked, arching her eyebrow. "We are still just talking, right?" she said, in a slightly seductive tone.

"Y-Yes," he replied to quickly, his face flushing. He swore to God, he had never blushed so much in one night.

She laughed. "So, answer my question."

"Music," he replied, earnestly.

"Music?" she repeats. "Do you play anything?"

"The violin," he responded. "My father taught me when I was young."

"You wouldn't expect a guy who comes to a brothel to be interested in music," she joked, through his earlier words back in his face. He mocked annoyance and she laughed.

"I don't know much about music," she said. "My aunt Harriet tried to teach me to play the piano when I was little, but I just got frustrated and gave up. Do you play the piano too?" He looked down at the ever sexy "Lucie" wearing practically nothing and found it hard to imagine her as an innocent little girl having a temper tantrum. He smiled at the thought.

"Just a little bit, but I mainly focus on the violin. But music is hard, I understand your frustration."

She smiled and said kiddingly, "Maybe next time I see you, you can teach me a thing or two about playing."

"If I meet you outside of this place, I promise you I will," he said.

She laughed at that. "I'm never leaving this place."

That made him look at her. "Why not?" he asked, slightly cautious.

For once she actually moved away from him instead of closer and he suddenly felt cold without her pressed against him. "My purpose in life is to please men, it's the only thing I'm good at and it's the only thing anyone will ever want from me."

He took her by the shoulders and turned her so that she was facing him. "How can you say that?" he said, seriously. "You're a human being, you're so much more than…" he turned away, embarrassment seeping into his sudden bravado, but he continued none the less, "than just an item to be bought and sold."

They both said nothing for a few moments and though he wasn't looking at her, he could feel her grey gaze piercing him. "You're too naïve," she stated finally. He brought his head up to retort, but before he could say anything she said, "Thank you, Jem" and suddenly fell into his arms.

"Lucie," he said, hesitantly. No response. He tilted his chin to look down at her and found her eyes closed and breathing evenly. How could she fall asleep just like that? None the less, he took in her sleeping form. This was the most innocent she looked all night. No frown, no sexy smirk, just a small smile graced her lips. He took her from his arms and laid her delicately on the bed.

He thought about calling Will to see if he could get someone to unlock the door, but realized the time. Will was probably with a woman or drunk or both. He looked over at Lucie, sleeping silently. The bed was definitely big enough for him and her to both sleep in without touching, but somehow sharing a bed with her felt even more…intimate than sex would have. He sighed and grabbed a pillow from the bed and lay on the floor next to the windows. Sleep found him easily.

* * *

"Jem."

He groaned.

"Jem, get up."

He opened his own dark eyes to find large grey ones peering down at him. Lucie's hands were on his shoulders, nudging him lightly. Her hair falling around them like a curtain protecting them from the rest of the world. All too soon though she sat up, and he followed after. "Good morning, Sunshine," she said happily. He looked over to see she still had the sheets wrapped around her like a vice, her hair disheveled and sticking up at random places. She looked more like a toddler than a prostitute.

"Morning," he replied.

"Why'd you sleep on the floor?" she asked with a curious tilt of her head. Cute.

He flushed. "I don't know . It just kind of seemed improper sleeping in the same bed," he said rubbing his neck.

She laughed, "You're so weird. Worrying about propriety in a brothel." He was about to retort but she stood up. "Your times up, Sophie came and unlocked the door about half an hour ago."

"Oh." He stood up with her. Their time was over? Already? It seemed to go by so fast. He walked to the door and she followed. When he turned to look at her he realized she looked much different in the sunlight than in the moonlight. Instead of showy lingerie, she wore a blanket, instead of a seductive grin she held a sloppy, tired smile.

"Usually my clients are the ones thanking me, but I had a nice time. So, thank you," she said, looking up at him.

"I had a surprisingly good time as well," he said.

"I could've made it even better," she said playfully and they both laughed.

After, their laughter faded away into an awkward silence. He found that he desperately didn't want to say goodbye but alas those were the only words left to say. "Goodbye, Lucie," he said and he turned to exit the room. Suddenly she grabbed his wrist and turned him around. He saw she had dropped the sheets giving him one last eyeful of her body, before she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek before whispering in his ear,

"My name's Tessa."

Then she opened the door pushed him out into the hallway and shut it again, closing him off from her beautiful form. He stared at the closed door, hand unconsciously resting on the cheek she had pressed her lips against, and couldn't help but think that Tessa was the loveliest name he'd ever heard.


End file.
